Life really was something.
Over a decade ago, Li Qing had casually given Wang Li a recipe for spiced offal. He hadn't meant much by it, but it ended up bringing in over two thousand taels of silver across the years. Enough to take care of any financial worries.
Then, five years back, after Zhang Yong had pulled some strings following his departure from the palace, the braised meat shop made a comeback, and business kept climbing.
Li Qing had quietly looked after Consort Qi for more than ten years, and in return, received two Great Origin Pills.
He had delivered meals to Noble Consort Li for seven years, and somehow ended up with the Great Lotus Marrow Cleansing Sutra, all without paying a thing.
Aside from the Seven Forms of Flowing Water, Li Qing had never gone out of his way to chase after anything. Yet, life kept handing him incredible returns.
This is exactly how life should be.
The greatest virtue is like water. Well said…
And then there was Wei Yang.
Right now, in this moment. Li Qing found himself hoping Wei Yang might give something back.
Something like that acupuncture technique Noble Consort Li once mentioned, the Twelve Golden Needles Meridian Technique said to enhance the physique aptitude…
No. Best not to think about it. Let fate decide.
The music from the palace maidens' dance in the pear garden pulled Li Qing back to the present.
A few days later.
Li Qing adjusted his body to peak condition, ready to take the pill and break through the pinnacle stage.
Better not to drag it out. The longer you wait, the more likely trouble finds you. It was best to use the Great Origin Pill sooner rather than later.
The pill wasn't some miracle that created internal energy out of thin air. It simply opened the body's energy channels.
In truth, whether it was the twelve main meridians or the eight extraordinary vessels, channeling internal energy through them to open them would drain whatever internal energy you had stored.
Once those meridians were cleared, though, they formed a small internal cycle that would gradually generate your own internal energy.
The internal energy, after being consumed in fight, would slowly recover on its own.
After stepping into the first tier, Li Qing had already opened twelve small internal cycles.
To clear the body's meridians, one had to rely on refining internal energy.
Li Qing used the Seven Forms of Flowing Water to refine the gentle energy of water into internal energy. That counted as refined internal energy. The refined internal energy is stored in the lower dantian, while the body's own internal energy is stored within the meridians.
That's why every breakthrough in martial arts requires years, sometimes decades, of steady accumulation.
Once he was ready, Li Qing took the first Great Origin Pill.
As he focused inward, he felt the pill dissolve in his stomach, turning into a surge of energy that burst forth with overwhelming force. It instantly broke through the Ren Vessel, one of the eight extraordinary vessels.
Before he even fully entered a meditative state, his martial cultivation had already advanced.
Everything happened so smoothly.
As a top-tier martial arts pill, the Great Origin Pill had long been tested by time.
With the Ren Vessel now open, Li Qing officially stepped into the pinnacle stage.
Then, he took the second Great Origin Pill, and smoothly cleared the Du Vessel.
Once the Ren and Du Vessels were both unblocked, they instantly connected with the twelve primary meridians and the minor cycles, forming a complete Grand Internal Circuit.
The internal energy in all of Li Qing's meridians surged like a rising tide.
Half a day later.
Li Qing felt completely reborn.
Hah...
Thirty years in this shadowed palace... and at last, I've finally become semi-mortal immortal."
…
Walking alone through the Cold Palace, a faint sense of melancholy came over him.
Now that he'd broken through to the pinnacle stage, he could truly call himself a master. But looking back, only Gong Yue remained by his side from the old days.
In seeking the Dao, we walk alone.
Hmm, maybe not always.
Suddenly, it clicked for Li Qing:
A mortal life barely lasts a hundred years. But once you step onto the path of immortality, your fellow seekers must have lifespans that stretch on and on. No more dying alone. No more dying alone.
That thought lifted his spirits again.
Now that he'd reached the pinnacle, it was time to seriously start thinking about the road to immortality.
Of course, Li Qing was still some distance away from that. Even in martial cultivation, he hadn't yet reached the peak of what was possible.
Among pinnacle-level masters, there were still clear differences. Clearing just two vessels might qualify you as a pinnacle master, but it was far from being truly powerful.
Those who had cleared all the eight vessels were the ones truly worthy of the title.
As for the stage beyond the pinnacle, that was Xiantian.
From what Li Qing knew, there were Xiantian masters within the imperial palace, but no more than three. And in the entire martial world of the Great Qian Dynasty, only two were known publicly.
There were, however, quite a few pinnacle masters. Most had cleared somewhere between one and four vessels.
Those who'd reached five were strong enough to lead major sects and held real power in the martial world.
The biggest factor holding back pinnacle experts from advancing was their physique aptitude.
The Ren and Du vessels were the easiest to clear. But beyond those, each additional vessel required a massive increase in internal energy to break through.
Li Qing did the math. To clear a third vessel, he'd likely need fifteen years.
Fifteen years isn't that long for me… if only my talent were better…
Well. One step at a time.
…
Li Qing's breakthrough didn't cause much of a stir.
Because of Wei Yang, everyone in the palace already knew that the Cold Palace housed a quiet eunuch who pursued martial arts without any interest in fame or fortune.
Li Qing often mentored the younger eunuchs, frequently repeating: "The highest virtue is like water. Water nourishes all things but does not compete."
Over time, he quietly became known as Li Ruoshui—Li Like-Water. Some simply called him Eunuch Ruoshui.
Even in the martial world, Eunuch Ruoshui had earned quite a reputation.
That reputation came from thirty-two years of living by the principle of non-contention.
Two quiet years passed in a flash, and time drifted into the thirty-ninth year of the Taikang era.
Early spring.
Restlessness swept through the imperial palace. And the entire Great Qian Empire. A heavy sense of unease lingered in the air.
The Empress Dowager was gravely ill.
The Emperor was gravely ill.
And at this crucial moment, the Crown Prince was not in the capital.
Seven years had passed since the last invasion, and now the Khaganate of the Grasslands had returned in force, stationing 150,000 troops along the Suzhou border, eyeing the empire like a hungry predator.
The Crown Prince had personally gone to Suzhou to oversee defenses, in case war broke out.
But just then, disaster struck. The Emperor suddenly fell ill. And it was extremely serious.
Ever since taking power, perhaps because he'd spent so many years as a puppet ruler with no real control, the Emperor had thrown himself into governance with obsessive intensity. He handled everything himself, reviewed memorials deep into the night, and worked nonstop day after day.
Over time, his body simply couldn't take it anymore.
And now, this illness; it was no small matter. Rumors quietly spread through the palace: the Emperor might not outlive the Empress Dowager.
The Emperor was gravely ill. The Crown Prince was away. And the capital was on edge.
After all these years, the Emperor no longer had just one son. There were now more than a dozen adult princes.
If the Emperor were to pass away and one of the princes seized the chance to act while the Crown Prince was away, the empire could plunge into chaos.
One day...
In the Cold Palace.
"By the Emperor's decree: Noble Consort Lu is found disloyal and stripped of her title. Effective immediately, she is to be confined to the Cold Palace."
The imperial edict arrived without warning, stunning the eunuchs of the Cold Palace into silence.
Who was Noble Consort Lu?
She was the granddaughter of the former Grand Empress Dowager's sister, the eldest daughter of Chancellor Lu, and the woman who had raised the Crown Prince.
And now she was being cast into the Cold Palace on charges of disloyalty?
Disloyalty meant exile to the Cold Palace. And no one survived more than a month after that.
This was, for all intents and purposes, a death sentence.
What was the Taikang Emperor doing? Chancellor Lu still held immense power at court.
Inside the duty room of the Cold Palace...
"Master Li, what are we supposed to do about this?"
The one assigned to serve Noble Consort Lu was a nervous young eunuch named Zheng Chun. He blurted out the question in a panic.
"Treat her with the proper respect due a consort. No more, no less," Li Qing replied calmly.
With those instructions, Zheng Chun hurried off.
Only Li Qing and Gong Yue remained in the room.
Gong Yue frowned deeply. "This is bad. The Emperor just sent Noble Consort Lu to the Cold Palace with a charge that basically guarantees death. He's pushing Chancellor Lu toward rebellion."
"You really do see things clearly," Li Qing thought to himself. "The palace has become dangerous. As expected, the Emperor likely doesn't have much time left. Maybe he can't wait for the Crown Prince to return and wants to eliminate this parasite Chancellor Lu before he dies."
Chancellor Lü: the parasite eating away at imperial authority.
For twenty years, Chancellor Lu had helped the Empress Dowager suppress the Taikang Emperor. And even after the Emperor seized power, he remained powerless to strike back. Not only was revenge impossible, he still had to rely on Chancellor Lu as a political pillar just to govern the empire.
That alone showed how deep the rot went.
"How could I not see through it?" Gong Yue said, anxious. "I'm not an idiot.
"But what do we do now? Chancellor Lu's clan controls most of the military in the capital. The Imperial Guard, the Embroidered Guards, the Ministry of War… Most of the nearby troops are loyal to the Empress Dowager's faction. If Chancellor Lu supports a different prince, those forces, because of old loyalties, will likely stand by and do nothing. Even though the Emperor struck first, while critically ill, he might still lose this gamble."
"This really is serious," Li Qing muttered, lost in thought. "The Emperor acted in haste. What makes him so confident this time? No… I've never trusted the Emperor's judgment. I need to get out of the palace before this explodes."
"Get out of the palace?" Gong Yue's head was spinning. "How's a Cold Palace eunuch supposed to do that?"
"I turn fifty this year," Li Qing said quietly.
...
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